


you are my heart

by deargalileo



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Balance Arc, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, POV Taako (The Adventure Zone), Sibling Love, Spoilers for the Balance Arc, Team as Family, Temporary Character Death, Twins, like the whole thing, lup and taako love each other so much, rated t for cursing, some of the team dies? but its during the stolen century so they come back?, taz makes me emotional, the taaco twins are insanely powerful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-03 03:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14559621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deargalileo/pseuds/deargalileo
Summary: They couldn’t read each other’s minds- not without a spell that is. That would just be crazy- but they did know each other. They were the Taaco twins, and they knew each other better than they knew anyone else. There were times where Taako thought that Lup knew him better than he knew himself. She probably did.(Three times the Taaco twins needed help, and found solace in their twin)





	1. Chapter 1

When Taako and Lup were younger, their various guardians had joked about their connection. _‘It’s like they can read each other’s thoughts!’_ their grandfather had always chuckled. Taako and Lup would always just exchange a look, and remain silent. When their grandfather had passed, and various distant relatives came to the funeral, the twins still stayed silent as people who they did not know discussed who was to take care of the two. Taako and Lup only sat next to each other in a pew, hand in hand.

They couldn’t read each other’s minds- not without a spell that is. That would just be crazy- but they did know each other. They were the Taaco twins, and they knew each other better than they knew anyone else. There were times where Taako thought that Lup knew him better than he knew himself. She probably did.

\--

Once, when they were travelling through Rockport on the way to their aunt’s home, Lup got cornered. The Taaco twins were rather short on money- they had been sent on the journey to their aunt’s house but the journey had taken longer than they thought, so Taako had run off briefly to try and get them some food, leaving Lup to look pitiful on a street corner. It was her turn to try and beg for food, and she had mastered the skill of pouting and making her eyes look huge. It really brought in the big bucks. Plus, Taako had already begged last week, and someone threw some kind of slushy pink drink at him, drenching the one clean shirt that he had. Being on the road was hard.

Taako had only been gone for a moment when he heard the sound of scuffle, and an familiar indignant, “lay _off_ , dickwad!” It was Lup.

Taako was there in an instant, wand out. She had been forced into a dingy alleyway, but was still looking fierce, and angry. There were three orcs, all bulky and seemingly ten times the size of Lup. They had knocked her down, and she was struggling to stand up again. Taako was at her side in an instant, brandishing his own wand. As the orcs leaned over both Taako and Lup, Taako felt something new. He felt fear, but it wasn’t just his own. He _felt_ Lup’s fear, and her pain. He felt it and _exploded_. Magic burst out of him, and blasted away the older orc boys, miraculously leaving Lup and Taako unharmed.

As Taako helped Lup again, he knew that his eyes were as wide as his twin’s. The orcs around them were struggling to get up, and the air around them smelled like something was burning. Taako tugged at her wrist, trying to get her out of there before the orcs felt the urge to take revenge on them.

“Taako, hun, what-” Taako had shaken his head solemnly, feeling the surge of magic in his blood leave. The magic was still there in his soul, where it has always been, but it was nothing compared to the power that had ran through him only moments before.

“I- I don’t know.” Taako shrugged, hoping that he could physically shake off the feelings. “Let’s just go.”

“No- bro-” Lup reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “What the hell was that? You lit up for a second- it was like you the fuckin’ sun or something.” Taako cast an unwary glance at the orcs who were still struggling to stand up. One of them had a cut on his head, and was glaring daggers at the twins. He quickly cast a sleep spell to make sure they stayed down, and took a step out of the alleyway.

“Lup… Let’s just get out of here.” Lup gave him a look that clearly conveyed ‘ _we will talk about this later’_ and followed him.

The bond that the Taaco twins shared was something that no one else understood, not even them.

That night, the two huddled together in the outskirts of the forest. Lup had lit a small campfire, and Taako was attempting to cook potatoes over it- _attempting_ being the key word. They didn’t have any plates, or pans, so Taako was trying to use mage hand to hold the potatoes over the fire. They might be poor, but they were at least creative, and had magic.

The forest was quiet, save only for the distant songs of the wind through the trees.

“Ko?” Lup’s eyes had previously been trained on the fire, but now she was looking up at her brother. “What was that?”

He couldn’t even try to lie- it was Lup, after all. Taako shrugged, focusing even more on the stupid potatoes.

“I don’t know. I didn’t even cast a spell or anything- I just exploded.”

“Taako, what the shit.”

“I know,” Taako felt somber, but Lup stood up. A wicked gleam was in her eyes, and a smile was beginning to form.

“That’s fucking sick? I knew that you were powerful, but god- Taako!” Lup punched a fist in the air, grinning madly. “We could rule the world.”

Taako tilted his head back, looking at the night sky. Lup slid down next to him, weaving her fingers in with his. The last of that awful magic had left him- his hands no longer felt like they were buzzing, and he could breathe easier. Lup looked excited about this new-found power, but Taako couldn’t bring himself to feel the same way. The power was intense, it was strong, and it felt much stronger than anything Taako should be capable of.

Lup leaned forward, snatching the potatoes off of Taako’s mage hand. She seemed unaffected by the heat, and started to peeling the skin off with her fingers. Taako grimaced.

“I can’t wait until we can actually eat like normal people. That-” He gestured to his sister, who was poised to bite into the potato like it was an apple. “-is disgusting. Lulu, please stop-”

Lup took the bite, grinning widely at her twin while flipping him off with her free hand. Taako laughed, the serious conversation thankfully behind them. Lup knew when to press him, and when to back down. Taako would like to do anything _but_ talk about the thrumming magic that had enveloped him. (He didn’t want to talk about how the magic felt so old that it could have been called _magick_ ). Lup let him do just that.

\--

They finally made it to their aunt’s home, and months passed.The incident was forgotten. Living with their aunt was good for them- they cooked and practiced their magic. They made good food, good soup that took all day to make, turkey fit for a king, and Taako felt like he was home. He and Lup worked side by side both cooking and practicing magic.

Their aunt was a kind old lady, not even a blood relative but apparently a family friend. She didn’t talk about their parents, and they didn’t ask. The three of them lived in their own, happy little world.

Their aunt wasn’t didn’t practice magic herself, and Taako never knew if he should ask her about what had happened months ago. He never knew if he should ask _anyone_. Months passed, and Taako never fully forgot the feeling of the thrumming, warm magic that had ran through him. It was like the best possible high that was tearing him up from the inside out.

\--

It was the middle of the night, and Taako was sleeping. Elves technically meditated, but sometimes Taako liked to sleep, he liked to dream. Meditating could get boring, and while it took less time, he didn’t like being left to wander the house in the middle of the night alone.

_Lights were flashing- Lup was there, but she was wearing- a flash of red, a bright light- darkness consuming everything- darkness coming for Lup- Lup being overtaken by the darkness as she smiled at Taako- Taako running, running away but he wasn’t fast enough and he didn’t know where he was going- the darkness reaching him, and tearing him apart, limb by limb and-_

Taako lurched awake, sitting up in his bed. _Lup-_ He was out of his bed in an instant, his sock-clad feet padding on the hardwood floors. Lup’s bedroom was only just down the hallway, but the distance felt tremendous on this night. Too many seconds later, Taako was in front of his sister’s door. He didn’t bother knocking as he opened the door quietly, trying not to wake up their aunt.

All qualms about being quiet dissipated when a chilling scream came from the room that he was standing outside of. _Lup._ He burst through the half-open doorway, not flinching when the door slammed against the wall. So much for not waking up his aunt. Taako had wand out and ready to kill any motherfucker who was trying to mess with his sister.

Taako’s felt a flash of relief when he saw that there was no one else in the room, but that relief dissipated when he saw the lump that was Lup on the bed, writhing under the sheets. Muffled sobs came from the bed, so Taako closed the door behind him and moved towards Lup.

“Lulu?” No response. She must still be asleep. He sat himself on the edge of the bed gently, pulling back the blankets. Lup’s face was stricken with agony, but her eyes were closed. Sweat lined her forehead, and Taako made a mental note to get her a washcloth for her when she woke up. “Lup.” Taako put his hand on her shoulder gently, trying to figure out the best way to wake her up from this nightmare.

He shuddered, hoping that her dream was nothing like his.

The second that his hand made contact with her skin, Lup woke up, her eyes ripping open. She struggled with the sheets for a second as she tried to free herself, breathing heavily. It was then that Taako noticed tear tracks streaming down her face. Her movements were stuttering, and halting. Lup looked like she was only moments away from a panic attack.

“Lulu?” Lup jerked her head to her brother, like she hadn’t noticed him until then. The angry, hardened shield on her face broke as they made eye contact, and Lup’s face melted into a look of raw fear. There was no hesitation when Taako moved closer to her, meeting her in the middle for a tight hug. Lup buried her head in Taako’s neck, talking in gibberish. Half of it was in Elvish, but none of it made sense. Taako refused to pull away from the embrace, instead whispering soothing words.

 _“Eska naa never hae-, il- iire amin naa sinome. Ten' lle eska naa e' lle heart, manke amin will ten'oio be…”_ The soft lullaby seemed to calm her down a bit more. The words were ones that their grandfather had sang to them what seemed to be a million years ago when one of them was upset. As the song ended, Taako found his sister’s hand, gripping it tightly. Eventually Lup pulled away from the embrace. She didn’t move far, only so Taako could properly face her. The pressed their foreheads together, and Taako knew that they both had their eyes closed. Moments like these were when Taako had never felt more connected to his sister.

“Koko… It was awful, I-” Her voice was shaking.

“Shhh, bubbeleh, it’s okay.”

With another hiccuping breath, Lup pulled away and wiped her face. “Lulu, what was it?”

“Some fuckin’ bad dream. Taako… It was weird.” Lup moved back into the bed so Taako could sit next to her. Taako made sure to stay close, not wanting to leave his sister alone. “There was like this darkness? Like a bunch of shadows, or some awful dark smoke. But it was different, I- I don’t know how to explain it.”

Taako felt one of his eyebrows arch.

“Lulu stay with me on this, but I had the same exact dream. Creepy dark smoke? With tendrils and some shit? It was chasing us? You were in it, and you had just been consumed in it or some shit when I woke up.” Lup frowned, and shook her head.

“No, in mine, you were overtaken by it. That’s when I woke up.” Taako frowned, and sat back, his head resting on the headboard.

“That’s weird. So we had the same dream of creepy tentacle porn, but the only thing that was different was that the the other twin died? That’s fucked up.”

Lup mirrored his action, so they were sitting shoulder to shoulder. “Yeah.” Lup shifted again, resting her head on her brother’s shoulder. As they sat in silence, Taako cast an illusion spell in the room. The Taaco twins watched as the ceiling disappeared, revealing million of stars shining in the sky.

“Taako?” Lup’s voice sounded uncharacteristically quiet.

“Yeah?” Taako didn’t take his eyes off of the night sky, but he knew that Lup was looking up as well.

“I love you.” _The sky, though magically created, felt real, and like if Taako reached out, he could go to space._

“I love you too.” _But if he were to be pulled to space, he would cling onto Lup. He wouldn’t be going to space without Lup._

“And… Don’t ever leave me, okay? Don’t go fucking dying or something. If you die, I will kill you, okay?” _They would be the fucking space Taaco twins. Unstoppable and incredibly powerful. No one could tear them apart._

Taako found himself laughing. “I won’t. If you die, then I will make sure to bury you in that hideous plaid pant suit that you have.” Lup was quick to elbow Taako in the ribs, but they both knew that she was smiling. Taako opened his mouth, but hesitated. Lup, unfortunately picked up on it.

“Speak, babe. What is it?”

“Sometimes I feel like you are the only one that I trust.” Taako paused, giving his sister just enough time to jump in and either agree, or shut him down.

“Me too.”

“This is going to sound ridiculous, but you are my heart, you know? If you get hurt, I get hurt. If someone fucks with you, they fuck with me. Lulu, I don’t know if I would live without you.” Lup finally tore her eyes away from the fading spell, and looked at her brother.

“Koko?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s become the most powerful wizards this world has ever seen. You and I? _Ammen tád di ambar._ ”  

Taako nodded, watching as the night sky faded back into a ceiling. He thought about how the first thing he had thought about when he had woken up was Lup, and how if anything had ever happened to her, he might die. Not in a dramatic fashion, but as in, Taako doesn’t know how to live without his twin, but he never wants to find out.

“ _Ammen tád di ambar._ ” Taako echoed. Lup poked him again in his side.

“We will be okay, Taako. We got each other, and that’s all we need. Plus, I will always take care of my little bro.” Taako scowled, poking Lup back.

“You are only ten minutes older.”

“Which makes me the older twin, dingus.”

“Fuck off, Lulu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part one of three. the other two chapters have been written, just need to be edited, so expect the next chapter relatively soon. thank you for reading! kudos and comments mean a lot and they motivate me to write more!!


	2. Chapter 2

It was the 27th cycle- or maybe it was the 28th, Taako couldn’t be bothered to remember at this point. The world that they were on was heavily wooded, and as far as they could see, there was no signs of civilization. Just… Trees. Mile high trees, so high up that sometimes you had to squint up to even begin to see where leaves began. The ground was covered in a leafy plant, one that had giant red berries on it. Thick vines curled at the base of the trees and plants, but all of it was silent.There was no movement, even the trees weren’t swayed by the occasional breeze.

They had followed the light of creation down, and Davenport swore that he had landed right on top of it. But it was nowhere to be seen. 

Magnus, the idiot, had rushed outside as soon as the Starblaster had landed, wanting to explore. He had only made a few steps outside when vines shot out. Magnus had hardly made it one step before the vines were wrapping around his ankles. He swore, and tried to swing Railsplitter at them, but they were too large, and were climbing up his legs too quickly. Both Lup and Taako had rushed forward, wands brandished, but it was too late. A third vine came out of seemingly nowhere, and stabbed through Magnus’ chest. It went clean through his armour, and through his torso. The rest of the crew could only watch in horror as Magnus crumbled to the ground, his already too pale face lolling back. Blood poured out of him, and Lucretia turned away. 

With what was probably the last of his strength, Magnus looked at them, and gestured to the plants. “Probably not… Best,” Magnus wheezed out, before his eyes rolled up to the top of his head. 

For what seemed like the millionth time, Magnus was dead. Lup, beside Taako, cursed and sent out a magic missile, trying to hit the vines that were trying to drag Magnus’ body back to the plants. 

The crew of six watched as the missile did nothing to the vines, and as their friend disappeared into the foliage.

Merle was the next to go, almost exactly a month after they had landed. The crew had been instructed to not go on land, lest what happened to Magnus would happen to one of them. Merle had insisted that he had a way with plants, and spent most of the days standing on the balcony of the ship. He would yell random things over at the plants, usually trying to seduce him in some way. Lup and Taako had found the rooms that were furthest away from that, meaning they didn’t have to hear it. They had all spent enough time around each other to be comfortable with each other, but still hearing the old man yell sexual things at a bunch of plants was weird. 

It was a sunny day when it happened. Lucretia, Lup and Taako had spent the morning laying in the sun. It was warmer than it usually was, and with the clearing that the Starblaster had made while landing, the sun was shining bright onto them. Lup and Taako talked about meaningless things, while Lucretia who was writing in a journal interjected her thoughts every so often. Barry had wandered out, only to blush heavily at the sight of Lup. Taako glanced over at his sister when that happened, wondering if she noticed. Lup was sprawled out on a towel, wearing one of the swimsuits that her and Taako had snuck on to the Starblaster (seriously! Who the hell does the IRPE think that they are to tell them that they  _ don’t _ need swimsuits?), and was chatting idly to Lucretia, who only seemed to be half-listening. Lup was laying on her stomach, and from where she was, she couldn’t see Barry (probably a good thing for him, because he looked like a total dork right now). 

Taako lets the corner of his lips cock up, and called out to Barry. 

“Hey, Barold!”  Barry gives a start, and flushes even more. 

“O-oh hey! Taako! I- uh- I just came out to see where- uh- everyone was…” At the sound of his stammering mess, Lup rolled, propping herself on her elbows. Taako gestured to the three of them casually. 

“We are just soaking in some sun, my dude. Want to join us?” He cast a disapproving look at Barry’s jeans. “You want to get out of those, though.” Barry took a step back as Taako spoke, giving a nervous smile. 

“Oh! I don’t think I-” 

“Hey guys!” Merle burst through the door, joining the four. He was holding a watering can, and various loose papers. “Wanted to see the ol’ master at work, huh?” Lucretia was up in seconds, already gathering her pens and books. 

“Sorry, Merle, but I have to go… Meet with Davenport.” She mumbled, throwing a side smile at the twins as she left. Barry muttered something about Davenport still being asleep as the the door slide shut behind her. Merle deflated for a moment, but perked up when he remembered the remaining three. 

“I was thinking about reading some poetry to the plants, maybe they wanna be courted before anything else,” Merle continued on, struggling to carry the dozens of paper along with the water jug. When Barry offered to carry something, Merle refused, and continued walking towards the balcony. “Like this-” Merle stopped, turning dramatically. He lowered his voice that was slightly alarming, but more creepy than anything else. “ Not a red rose or a satin heart. I give you an onion!” Beside him, Lup snickered. Taako sent her a side glance.  _ Should we try and get out of this?  _

Lup shrugged.  _ Entertainment is entertainment _ . “It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. It promises light like the careful undressing of love.” Merle continued. At this point, Barry looked positively uncomfortable. Taako briefly wondered if he should intervene, but Merle looked like he was having too much fun. “Here!” Merle swung his arms out, seemingly already forgotten that he was holding things. Lup shrieked as the watering can when flying, and it’s contents spilling out, managing to splash both of the twins. Merle continued on, oblivious to the death glares that he was receiving as he backed up to the railing. “It will blind you with tears like a lover. It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief!” 

Taako frowned, seeing how Merle’s eyes were closed, and how close he was getting to the railing. 

He knew what was going to happen seconds before, getting to his feet in a flash. Barry noticed as well, and they both rushed for Merle. 

Merle, mid-prose, didn’t realize how close he was to the railing and stumbled as he hit it. 

“Merle!” Taako found himself shouting as they watched Merle topple over the top of the railing, plunging to the ground. 

“Shiiiiiit!” Merle called out in response. The fall wasn’t that far, so he was on the ground in moments. Taako patted his sides, trying to get his wand, only to realize that he left it on the towel next to Lup. Barry leaned over the railing, looking panicked. 

There was nothing they could do as the plants shot out again, this time grabbing both Merle’s arms and legs. Merle begged, tried to sweet talk them, but it was all in vain as a vine wrapped around his throat and jerked, snapping his neck in milliseconds. 

Then, there was silence. Lup had gotten up at some point, and was standing in between Taako and Barry. The door behind them opened, and both Lucretia and Davenport rushed out. 

“What happened? Where is Merle?” Lucretia asked desperately. Taako picked up one of the surviving poems off of the balcony floor. 

“He fell over the railing,” Barry explained, remorsefully. Davenport cursed, and turned back into the ship. Barry looked back at the plants, where Merle had now disappeared. “I just wish that I could get a sample, or  _ something _ , so we could figure out what it is. We need to find a way to get down there, but without the plants realizing it.” 

A slow smile formed on Taako’s face, and he stood up straight. “Lulu? Come with me. The great Taako has an idea.” Lup perked up, but Lucretia frowned nervously. 

“We can’t risk losing anyone else, not this early on in the year, Taako.” She warned. Lup beamed at Lucretia, and linked her arm with her brother’s. 

“Don’t worry Lucy. We know how to be safe. After all, we are the greatest wizards that this plane has ever seen!” Lucretia sighed, a sigh of someone who has heard the excuse many times before. Lup and Taako ignored her, racing inside the ship. Lup looked behind her. “Come on Barold!” 

An hour later, Barry, Taako and Lup were standing on the balcony again. This time, Barry was holding one of his science notebooks, and Lup was holding crumpled up pieces of paper. Taako readied his wand, pointing it towards the vines casually.

“Go,” He said, prompting Lup to pitch the ball of paper towards the forest floor. The three watched as the paper silently hit the ground, and vines snaked out. At least three came out, but only one looped around the paper and dragged it back to the foliage. Barry scribbled down notes into his journal. 

After a few more moments had passed, Taako grinned. “Go,” he said again. Lup threw another paper ball. Taako quickly cast levitate on it, and it started to hover only two feet above the floor. The three held their breath and waited. And waited.

There was no movement from the vines. Lup cheered, and Taako let go of the spell. The paper ball fell to the ground where it was taken by the vines in a similar fashion as before. Barry was scribbling madly into his notebook, and Lup pitched the rest of the paper at the ground. 

“Science, motherfuckers!” Lup yelled, flipping off the plants. Taako laughed, and joined her. Barry smiled hesitantly, and cocked his head to the side. 

“You guys do realize that as far as we know, the plants aren’t sentient? At least, they don’t understand what we say or do?” Taako elbowed him in the side.

“Duh, Barold. Doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun.” 

\--

A few days later, they had their plan. Taako and Lup would work together to cast levitate on Barry, and lower him down close enough so he could get the samples he needed, but so he wouldn’t have to touch the ground and risk getting killed by the vines. 

Davenport and Lucretia didn’t know about the plan, and the whole shebang was planned to take only a few minutes, so they would never have to know. Lucretia would either try to stop them, or tell Cap’nport. Cap’nport himself would just try to stop them. 

“He’s such a spoilsport,” Taako complained out loud. Lup, distracted with fiddling with her wand, nodded. 

“Totally, babe.” She agreed. They were sitting back out on the balcony, which seemed to be where they spent most of their time at this point. The door behind them, and Barry walked out. He was carrying various beakers and tools, but had a determined look on his face. He grinned when he saw the twins, and headed towards them. 

“Hold on a second, bucko-” Taako stopped him, pointing a perfectly manicured and accusing finger towards Barry. “You can’t take all of that down there.” 

Barry rolled his eyes, and carefully set down all of the beakers except for two. 

“I’m not an idiot, believe it or not.” He then produces a rope, and holds it out to Taako. Sighing heavily, Taako takes the rope as Barry begins to tie it around himself and continue. “I told Lucretia that we were going to make a picnic for Davenport- it’s supposed to be a secret, so she was going to keep him distracted.” Lup looks up, clearly impressed. 

“Good idea, nerd.” Barry shrugged.

“Just a distraction. It’s up to you guys not to drop me, or anything like that.” Taako scoffed. 

“We are the greatest wizards in the universe, Barry. Levitate is already an easy spell, but Lucy would have us by our throats if we let you die, so the both of us are going to use our amazing talent to help you. And we have a rope.” Lup remarked. “So don’t fuck this up.” 

Taako tugged at his end of the rope when Barry laughed nervously. 

“Seriously, Barold. If you die, I will kill you. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Doesn’t this whole plan constitute as stupid?” 

“Shut up, Barry.” Lup and Taako said in haunting unison, mostly to freak Barry out. 27 cycles, and they were still using their twin powers to fuck with the crew, especially Barry. 

As expected, Barry rolled his eyes and turned away, walking towards the railing. Lup brushed past her brother, but he knew her well enough to see the fleeting look of worry that crossed her face. 

“Lulu-” She was fast, but Taako grabbed the edge of her sleeve, and tugged on it. “What is it?” 

Lup glanced at Barry, then back at Taako, lowering her voice. “I don’t want to fuck this up… I don’t want Barry to get hurt because of us.”  _ Because of me _ , was the unspoken worry. The weight of one of their crewmates dying was bad enough, but when one died on your watch? That shit doesn’t go away. And it certainly doesn’t lessen after nearly 30 years. Taako felt his face soften. 

“He won’t. Not if we focus, and if one of us fails, the other is there. That’s what twins are for.” He nudged Lup’s shoulder with his own, and flashed her a quick smile. Barry didn’t seem to notice the exchange, but if he did, he didn’t say anything. With one last glance towards the twins, Barry stepped over the railing, and clung to it. 

“I am going to jump, and- shit- should someone cast feather fall?” Taako shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. Changing plans at the very last moment wasn’t ideal, but Taako would be damned if he wasn’t flexible. He looked at Lup, who shrugged. 

“I can do it. Taako is probably better at levitate, so he could focus on that.” Taako and Barry mumbled their agreements, and the twins stepped behind Barry. 

Barry wasn’t face them, but he was clearly nervous. 

“Just, uh-” Barry’s voice was too loud, and pitchy, so he stopped himself. “If anything happens to me, don’t feel guilty or anything? I mean, I know that you guys are good and you won’t let anything happen, but something could go wrong. Scientifically it is impossible for-” 

“Barold.” Taako contemplated just pushing Barry off of the edge right now. 

“Yeah?” 

“Calm down. You will be fine. Just go down there, get the samples, and trust us.” 

Barry sputtered, his anxiety clearly getting worse by the moment. Taako exchanged a look with Lup, smiling. 

“Of course I trust you guys! I didn’t mean to-” 

“Ready?” Taako interrupted. Barry took a deep breath, shook his head, and started to count down. 

“Five… Four… Three… Two… One-” Barry jumped off the side of the Starblaster. Taako cursed when he realized that he hadn’t tied his end of the rope to anything, and clung to it tightly, while fumbling to get his wand ready. He distantly heard Lup cast featherfall, and turn to him. 

Clinging to the rope that was quickly shortening on his end, Taako started to cast levitate when the door behind them slid open. 

“What are you-” Lup cursed loudly and colorfully. It was Lucretia. “Where is Bar-” Down below, Barry let out a cry. Taako was distracted momentarily by Lucretia’s appearance, but he turned back around and looked at Barry. He was floating down softly, but was still progressively getting closer and closer to the ground. 

Taako thrust the rest of the rope at Lup, and cast levitate. 

And Taako felt something that he hasn’t felt in decades- he felt his sister. He felt Lup’s fear, her love for Barry, her love for their crew- and he exploded. Magic poured out of him, and Barry stopped falling. He jerked in the air, arms waving wildly. Lucretia was at their side in an instant, shouting at both Taako and Lup. 

Taako squinted his eyes in concentration, blocking out the noises around him. Barry looked up at Taako, panicked, but Taako shook his head. 

“Calm down, Bluejeans.” Taako raised his voice above the din of Lup and Lucretia arguing. 

Slowly but surely, Taako helped Barry glide over to the trees, careful to keep him low enough so he could reach, but high enough so his feet wouldn’t hit the ground. He could hear distantly that Lup and Lucretia had gone quiet, but his heartbeat in his ears was roaring. 

Barry sent one affirming nod towards Taako, and reached his arm down. Taako heard Lup hiss next to him, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off of Barry. Not when he had this  _ magic  _ ripping through him again, this unstable and painful power that was literally holding Barry from falling to his death. 

The three of them watched Barry slowly reach out to a vine that was resting on top with a small knife. 

The second the knife touched the plant, vines shot out. Except this time it wasn’t only a few- there were dozens. Lup screamed as Barry let out a choked out shout, and Taako leaned forward, clutching his wand and squinting his eyes. 

He focused his magic,  _ that  _ magic on Barry, and tried to coax him out of the now cocoon of vines. There were so many of them, and they were wrapping so tightly around Barry. He couldn’t see Barry’s face, then his torso, then all they could see was the occasional glimpse of blue as the vines slithered around him. Taako wasn’t sure what spell he could use to get him out of it, but he still fuelled all of the magic towards him. 

A gasp, coming from the withering green mass. Then, a shout. “Burn it!”

It was Barry. He had stuck his arm through an opening and was trying to squirm his way out. “Just burn it all! There have never been this many, you might be able to kill some of them! Burn it!” 

Taako felt the magic rise again at the command, and he slowly repositioned his hand. He felt Lup press her face into his shoulder, unable to watch. He didn’t know where Lucretia was, but he distantly hoped that she wasn’t here, so she didn’t have to see this. 

Taako cast  _ scorching ray.  _ Much like every spell that he cast when he had this type of power, it was incredibly strong. Fire burst out of his wand, shooting to the vines where Barry was held captive. 

The vines were certainly taking their time with taking him back under the leaves, but that only gave Taako more time. 

As the fire reached the vines, an awful burning smell arose. The vines were  _ burning.  _

But, the second that one of the vines caught on fire, so did the rest. They all went up in flames in instant. 

Then, it was all gone. What once was vines, what once was Barry was now a pile of ashes. Taako lowered his wand, panting. That wasn’t possible, there was no way that Barry could have burned up that fast… 

But amid the pile of ashes was a pair of glasses.  _ Barry’s  _ glasses. 

Feeling the magic ( _ magick _ ) leave his body, Taako wrapped his arms around his sister. “I’m sorry, Lulu,” He whispered into her hair. She was shaking- and Taako wouldn’t be surprised if he was as well. It felt like every limb was about to fall off of his body, like his soul was trembling. Taako chalked that up to both the magic and Barry’s horrific death. They all had seen death, yes, 27 years of death, but this was still hard. It was still traumatizing, and this specific death was one of the worst. 

\--

_ Taako killed Barry.  _

Those words echoed in his mind for hours, leading into days. The remaining members of the crew were ordered to stay inside of the ship at all costs, but that wasn’t too difficult. Neither Taako or Lup wanted to be anywhere near where the lone pair of glasses lay in a field. 

Two days after Barry had died, Taako was in a room that was more hidden away in the ship, among the storage closets. The room was barren, but Taako at one point had brought in a few chairs and dim lights. He and Lup had discovered it while exploring, but soon forgot about it when they had found the supply of  _ good  _ ingredients, not that shitty freeze dried food that the IPRE had pushed them to eat. The room itself was small and had no windows, and before Taako had brought in the chairs and blankets in, it was dreary and just a bit dirty.

Taako had found it again during the 6th cycle, when Lup had died 5 months in. Taako and Lup had never spent more than a week away from each other (some month-long wizard camp that one of their various caretakers had forced Taako to go to. Lup broke him out six days into it, and they never went back), so the thought of spending over  _ 6 whole months  _ without her was unbearable. Taako had spent a few days hiding away in that room, alternating between sleeping and thinking of Lup and trying not to cry. He knew that Lup wouldn’t be pleased if he cried over her death, especially if she was coming back in 6 months, so he tried. 

Magnus eventually found him and dragged him out, forcing some food into Taako and the rest of the year was spent with no one leaving Taako alone (he would never admit it, but it helped), and Taako making new recipes that he could show Lup when she got back. 

Since then, Taako has tried to avoid that closet, not wanting to think about those dark few days that he spent alone. The members of the Starblaster has seen so much death at this point that it was no use mourning- they had work to do. And, whenever Lup was in a perilous situation where she might get hurt, Taako made sure that he was right beside her. Now, though, Taako was back. 

He was curled up on a dark blue bean bag, and had one of the fuzziest blankets that he could conjure on top of him when Lup found him. She banged the door open, and burst inside. Taako didn’t blink, both zoned out and used to dramatic entrances. Without a word, she closed the door behind her and climbed under the blanket, sitting next to her brother. Taako subconsciously closed his eyes and leaned into her, mind still miles away.

Lup got to work in an instant, pulling out and unwinding the hastily made braid that Taako had thrown his hair into days ago. She combed her fingers through his hair, mummering Elvish nonsense under her breath. Taako’s mind supplied translations a bit too slowly, but he got the gist.  _ Dog. Apple. Ocean. Orange.  _ Those meaningless words meant  _ home.  _ Lup and him spoke Elvish occasionally, but mostly it was saved for those cold nights were the universe felt much too big, and everything felt like it was too much. They had done that since they were kids, trading words that brought fuzzy memories of their grandfather and even fuzzier memories of their parents. If he closed his eyes hard enough, he could pretend that him and Lup were still on their home plane, safe and together. There was never a risk of them being separated because they were the Taaco twins, and how could you separate the Taaco twins? 

It wasn’t until Lup’s cool hands were on his cheeks that Taako realized that he was crying. 

“Shouldn’t be crying over this- stupid-” Taako mumbled, but let Lup wipe away the tears. 

“Koko…” Taako opened his eyes, and instead of looking at him like he was some lost puppy, Lup was holding his gaze steadily. After a few seconds of silence, she went back to braiding his hair. It was tough, with their current position, so Taako shifted until his back was to her so she could have easier access to his hair. 

“I killed him.” The words tumbled out, but it felt better to have them out. It felt much better to have told  _ Lup _ that. 

Lup’s hands that were working through his hair stilled, and so did Taako. Lup then poked him, hard, in his back. 

“You didn’t.” Lup’s voice was stern, and she sounded almost angry. Taako, who had half expecting Lup to agree with him, didn’t say anything. “Taako? You didn’t kill him. You didn’t know what those fucking plants would do, none of us would. You did what Barry asked you to do- we both did. So if you want to take the blame for this, at least share it. I killed Barry as much as you did.” Somewhere during Lup’s speech, she had gotten closer to Taako, and soon her forehead was resting in the space between his shoulder blades. “Babe, you can’t take the blame for that.” 

“But-” 

“No buts. If you took the blame for every time one of us died, you would break. It would destroy you, and I can’t let that happen.” 

Taako shifted around again, listening to the fake leather material of the bean bag squeak as he turned to face Lup.

“I just want to go home,” he whispered. Lup nodded, face softening, and gripped Taako’s hands. 

“Home is wherever we are together, Taako, don’t you remember?” 

Taako let out a shuddering sigh, feeling the weight of the shame and guilt that he had felt since Barry’s death pour out of him. He felt the weight that he has felt since that first fucking cycle rush out of him so quickly he found it hard to breathe. Lup let him cry, breaking their quiet only to mumble a few reassurances. They were forehead pressed against forehead, hands intertwined and together, just like when they were kids. 

“I’m tired of watching these people who tricked me into liking them die,” Lup giggled quietly, and tucked a strand of Taako’s hair behind his ear. 

“I’m not sure if they intended to trick you, Ko.” 

“Have you met Magnus? He’s like a dog, always eager to please and have you seen that hair? So unruly. I dream of the day he lets me shave it, or do  _ something _ with it. He is literally a dog.”

“And Merle-“ Lup added in. “Still really haven’t figured out what his deal is, but he does admittedly sometimes say some dope shit.” Taako snickered and poked Lup in the stomach. 

“Even when he is trying to fuck some plants? Gross, Lu. I’m gonna tell him you said that.” 

“Do you remember the time when Magnus accidentally called Davenport dad? I thought that Barry was going to choke on his drink from laughing so hard.” 

“How could I forget? Keeping that memory forever, gonna pull it out sometime to embarrass Mags at the most inconvenient time for him.” 

Lup and Taako spent the rest of the night exchanging stories, exchanging memories of the past nearly thirty years, and their life before. During a lull in the conversation, Lup looked at the ceiling and cast  _ dancing lights _ . Four lanterns appeared, swaying up and down. Taako watched, falling into silence. 

“They are our family now,” Taako felt a grimace pull at his face, but he let Lup speak. “I mean, we have been through all of this shit with them. I know these people better than I know anyone else. I  _ love _ them, Koko.” 

When Taako remained silent, Lup turned to look back at him. The lanterns turned dark, then disappeared. “I’m not saying that I love them more than I love you- Taako, that’s impossible. I will never love anything or anyone as much as I love you. I love Barry so  _ fucking  _ much, yes, but I love you differently. You are my heart, Ko. You are my other half. You are  _ the  _ other half, we wouldn’t be the Taaco twins without each other.” Taako still didn’t respond, instead finding Lup’s hand again and squeezing it tightly. Lup was always much better with words than he was, and they both knew it. 

“If you tell anyone else I said this, I will literally set fire to all of your favorite clothes-“ 

“They will just reset at the beginning of the next cycle,” Lup cut in, amused. 

“-do you really think that I won’t have the dedication to make that the first thing I do the second we reset?- but the rest of the crew isn’t.” Taako paused, trying to find the right words. “They aren’t that awful.” Lup snickered, and squeezed his hand. 

“Nearly 30 years and all they get is ‘not that awful’? Damn, babe. That’s cruel.” Taako elbowed her side, but smiled. They both knew what he was trying to say. 

“It’s you, me, and five other dorks against the world now, I guess.” Taako mumbled, what might have been either minutes or hours later. Lup nodded sleepily, and wrapped an arm around her brother. “How’dja find me, anyway? I thought you would have forgotten about this place.” 

“Couldn’t find you in the kitchen or your room, so I wandered. Just felt like you might be down here,” Lup’s voice was thick with sleep, so Taako decided to stop keeping her up. As Lup fell asleep, her soft snores filled the room. Taako felt himself begin to drift off as well, and he didn’t resist it. 

The Starblaster got cold at night, but with Lup’s warm body beside him and the blanket, Taako thought that he just might survive the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uuh if you were curious about the light of creation, the plants vored it the second it landed so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	3. Chapter 3

Taako had waken up with an awful feeling in his gut, and he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. His husband, Kravitz, was sleeping peacefully beside him, an arm curled around Taako’s waist. Kravitz technically didn’t breathe, but he did at night for Taako’s sake. There had been too many instances where Taako woke up in a panic, thinking that Kravitz was dead, beside him (Well, he was. Technically.) Taako watched his husband’s chest rise and fall, and reached out to brush his cheek. 

Kravitz was cold, but at this point, it was comforting, grounding. It distracted from the anxiety that Taako felt, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. At Taako’s touch, Kravitz moved closer to Taako, pressing his face into Taako’s side. 

“Be right back, lover,” Taako whispered although Kravitz was still asleep. Trying to be as gentle as he could, Taako slipped out from his grasp and out of the bed. Kravitz stirred, but remained asleep. Taako pressed a gentle kiss to Kravitz’s forehead, and slid on one of his robes.

The anxiety that Taako had felt since he had woken up was gradually getting more intense, now thrumming in chest. 

As Taako left their bedroom, he creeped down to another room down the hall. The room was dark, but Taako still walked in, as silent as he could be. 

He hovered in the doorway for moments, listening to the soft breathing. A small form laid on the bed, blankets rising and falling with his breath. Angus McDonald had fallen asleep reading again, glasses resting crookedly on his face. Taako gently removed the glasses and put them on the nightstand. Taako may technically be rich, but he didn’t feel like taking Angus to the fantasy  ophthalmologist . It was too long of a trip to Neverwinter, especially if Kravitz was too busy to make a rift for them, and then if they were near Neverwinter, Magnus would want to see Ango, and that was a whole event that felt particularly tiring (that didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to do it, if Angus needed new glasses or simply wanted to see Magnus). He also picked up the book, finding a scrap of paper on the floor and using it as a bookmark. It was another one of  those _ Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop _ books. It was one that Kravitz had bought Angus when they first met, almost as a peace offering. Taako smiled at the memory in spite of himself. 

Angus had spent weeks trying to figure out who the mysterious person that Taako was spending his time with, and when he finally figured out that it was the grim reaper, he wasn’t scared like Taako had expected (he’s got to stop doubting the guts that the kid has). Instead, he had approximately a million questions for Taako. Taako then was forced to call Kravitz and have them talk on Taako’s stone of farspeech. Kravitz, although confused, answered most of Angus’ questions before suggesting they met in person so Kravitz could explain some things better. A few days later, when they had lunch together, Kravitz gave him the book, to which Angus thanked him generously for, then promptly put it aside so he could interrogate Kravitz on his job, and life. Taako enjoyed immensely when Angus asked Kravitz what “his intentions” were, because seeing Krav flustered was always a good thing.

Putting the book down, Taako gently ran his fingers through Angus’ unruly curly hair. The three of them have lived together for a little under a year, and while things weren’t perfect, they were pretty fucking good. 

So both Bone Daddy and the boychik were fine. Why was he feeling like this then? Maybe he should call Magnus, to check on him, or even Lup-

From the kitchen, Taako heard a crackle. His stone of farspeech. Taking long strides, he found the stone glowing on the dining table. Soft breathing was coming through it, and Taako knew who it was even before she spoke.

“Lulu?” Taako swiped the stone into his hands, cradling it by his face. Lup, on the other side, let out a shaky breath. “Lup, talk to me.” 

Without realizing it, Taako was already pulling on his shoes. Lup and Barry lived only a ten minute walk away, but he would make it a two minute run for Lup.

“Taako-” Lup croaked, her voice thick with tears and panic. 

“Yeah, Lup. I am here, but you gotta talk to me.”

“Night- nightmare,” Lup eventually stuttered out, and Taako felt his heart shatter. They all had their fair share of nightmares- including Angus. Taako’s consisted of a wide variety of his family dying, or him forgetting everything again. Kravitz had nightmares about being alone, about the Raven Queen abandoning him again. Angus didn’t like to talk about his, but it wasn’t uncommon for him to scream in his sleep, loud, blood curdling shrieks. 

Lup’s nightmares were about being trapped in a dark, cold room with no escape. 

“Lulu, where is Barry?” 

“It’s- dark, Taako,” Lup let out a little sob, which only spurred Taako to move quicker. He moved around the kitchen swiftly, grabbing some things that he needed while mumbling Elvish gibberish into the stone. Lup wasn’t responding, but she was still breathing shakily. Her voice was close, she must be holding the stone next to her mouth.

Still clutching the stone of farspeech, he scribbled a short note to leave for Kravitz in case Taako wasn’t back before he woke up. 

_ Lup needed me. Taking stone w/ me, call if anything comes up. Be back soon-ish -  xoxo taako  _

_ (He tried not to think about how similar the note was to a note that he had found years ago-) _ Taako placed the note down and moved out of the house. All he had with him was the Umbra Staff, stone of farspeech and a small book of recipes that held some of Lup and Taako’s favorite meals and drinks from their time on the Starblaster. In it were things like their recreation of their aunt’s hot chocolate, the turkey that he had made for her on their “best day ever” adventure, Lucretia’s favorite pie and Taako’s specialty: elderflower macarons. 

“Lup, are you home?” Taako spoke into the stone after a long period of silence. He strained his ears to hear anything, maybe the telltale breathing of Barry, or  _ anything  _ that could tell him where she was, but to no avail. 

As he left the house, Taako continued to try and urge Lup to say something, or tell him where she was. He should head to her house, and if she wasn’t there, look somewhere else. 

“Lulu, darling, can you breathe for me? Inhale, exhale, alright?” There was some shuffling as Lup breathed loudly into the stone. “Good. Can you tell me where you are? Are you alone?” 

“Dunno,” 

Taako was moving fast, down the streets and up a few blocks until Barry and Lup’s house was in his sights. The streets were silent, the night sky shone brightly with stars above him.

Taako raced down the gravel path that led up to the patio, and glanced briefly through the windows of his sister’s home. The windows were dark, and the whole place looked like no one was awake. He couldn’t see Lup through the windows, at least. 

“Don’t worry, sis, I am almost here.” Taako fumbled with the keys that he had hastily shoved into his pocket for an embarrassing amount of time. Finally he got the door unlocked with the key that Lup had given them when they had moved in, and Taako strode inside. He deposited the book and the Umbra Staff in the kitchen, heading straight for the bedroom. 

Taako burst into the bedroom, flicking the lights on. Barry laid, sprawled out on the bed with drool dripping out of his mouth, fast asleep. He was wrapped up in blankets, but he was alone. Barry jerked up in the bed as Taako entered, hand scrambling for something on the nightstand. 

“Barold- chill. It’s Taako.” Taako was already searching the room, paying no mind to Barry, who was hurriedly putting on his glasses, and squinting at the elf. 

“T-Taako? What are you doing here? It’s like two in the morni-” 

“Yeah, I am all too aware of that, Bluejeans. Where is Lup?” Her shoes weren’t missing, and it looked like that she had been in the bed with Barry at some point tonight. He raised the stone to his mouth again. “Lulu, can you see anything? Can you tell me where you are?” 

Silence. 

Barry scrambled now, trying to untangle himself from the blankets, nearly falling out of the bed. 

“What is going on?” 

“Lup called me, she had a nightmare. She’s having a panic attack, and I can’t fucking find my sister!” Taako’s voice rose in tone with every word, and only felt mildly guilty when Barry flinched. He held the stone up again, listening as hard as he could. Lup hadn’t hung up, he could still hear some background noise, but she wasn’t responding. 

Taako felt himself get angry, and as his anger rose, so did something else.  _ Magick.  _ It was an intense feeling, one that he hadn’t felt in decades, but he was old enough now to recognize it. 

Instead of pushing it down, and pushing it away like he had the previous two times, Taako channeled it. He focused on Lup, his  _ sister, _ his world. Lup Taaco, the most badass woman that he knows, and his favorite person in the whole fucking world (Krav is a close second). He focused on Lup, and watched as the room around them grew brighter. He heard Barry’s panicked yelp, but ignored it. He could deal with him later, right now he had to find  _ Lup.  _

_ (He tried not to think about how this was just like how it was decades ago, when his sister had left without a trace, and they couldn’t find her, the countless nights he spent with Barry simply pouring over maps) _

Just like that, the room was gone. Taako was standing in a field, and when he looked around him, he recognized it as the park that was only down the street from Barry and Lup’s home. In the dim light that the moon and stars provided, he saw the outline of playground with big toy sets. He hadn’t gone here often- Angus was just a little bit too old to play here, and too young to take part in the drug dealing that teenagers do here. 

Taako heard a muffled sob, and turned around. The glow around him dimmed, but Taako didn’t have the time to look into the logistics and mechanics of that magic. Now wasn’t the time, not when Lup was crouched into a ball right in front of him, her hair a mess and her face red and puffy. 

Taako hung up on the stone of farspeech, knowing that he should call Barry, but he couldn’t even think straight, simply moving. He placed the string around his neck again, letting it drop underneath his shirt and thump on his chest.

“Lulu,” Taako whispered, and swiftly sat next to her. Lup looked at him blearily as he sat down next to her, and he didn’t move as she arranged herself so her head rested on his lap. Taako vaguely registered that they were sitting on wood chips, and that they were pressing into his legs uncomfortably. He couldn’t think about that when Lup was  _ here _ , she was safe, and alive. 

“Taako…” Lup murmured, her face pressed awkwardly into Taako’s stomach. He felt his heart melt, and started to run his fingers through her hair. 

“I’m here. Don’t worry.” 

And Taako began to talk. He and Lup talk about everything, but with the over ten years of being seperated, there was still so many more stories that he had. 

After the Day of Story and Song, Lup and Taako took the day off. They left Barry and the rest of their friends at home, and the Taaco twins left town, just the two of them. They spent the full day exploring forests, and small towns, just exchanging stories, and remembering their lives together. There was so much that Taako needed to tell her,  _ things that she should have been there for _ , but it never seemed like there was enough time. Back on the Starblaster, that was all that they had- time. They would talk for hours on end, and it wasn’t often that they ran out of things to say. At that point they would usually go out to find someone to taunt. Now, with a decade without each other, Taako felt like there were too many things to tell her, and that there was never enough time.

With this time he had now, with this moment, Taako talked about everything that wasn’t important. He talked about the time that Magnus had rallied some Bureau members for hold a protest, trying to convince Lucretia that  _ yes,  _ dogs should be allowed on the moon. He didn’t mention how hard he had laughed, and how he couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed that hard. Taako talked about the time that he got banned from a whole town because he showed up the royal chef. The chef had gotten pissy that “some elf” had impressed the king in a cook competition, because  _ of course  _ Taako destroyed him- culinary wise. Long story short, the chef had gotten so angry that Taako was better in every way that he came up with some outrageous story that Taako was planning to overthrow the crown via delicious food. The story itself was ridiculous, and totally obvious that he was making it all up. The king still kicked him out, and Taako was “escorted” out of the castle. Taako talked about his third date with Kravitz, and how Kravitz had walked him to his apartment door, and hesitated, allowing Taako the perfect opportunity to grab him by the stupidly handsome suit, and kiss him. 

Lup didn’t respond, but he knew that she was listening. Occasionally her breath would stutter, and he couldn’t tell if that was from crying, or laughing at Taako’s stories. At one point, he took Lup’s hand in his own to make a point, but didn’t let go. After Lup’s breathing had evened out completely, Taako pulled out the stone that was hanging around his neck. He, as quickly and quietly as he could, attuned his frequency to Barry’s. Barry picked up instantly, sounding frazzled. 

“Did you-” His voice came through loudly, making Taako cringe.

“I found her, Barold. Chill for two seconds, okay? I got her, and I will get her home soon.” 

There was silence on the other end of the call, and Taako could nearly see Barry collapse with relief onto the nearest surface. 

“S-she’s okay?” Taako paused, looking at Lup, whose eyes were closed, and she was still clinging to Taako’s hand like it was a lifeline. 

“Sort of. Look, I will call you when we are on our way back, okay?” 

“Okay. And Taako? I love you. And tell Lup that I love her too.” Taako didn’t try to hide the smile that slid across his face as he turned off his stone and dropped it back underneath his shirt. 

Lup seemed to be a bit more coherent, and she looked up at Taako as he started to mess with her hair some more. 

“Barry?” 

“Yeah. Said he loves you, the nerd.” Lup smiled, and squeezed Taako’s hand gently. She then began to sit up, finally resting her head upon Taako’s shoulder. Taako didn’t move, and refused to loosen his grip on her. It was still dark out, but Lup was close enough that he could see his sister’s face. 

“Mm’sorry.” Lup mumbled into his shoulder. 

“Don’t be. But do you want to tell me what happened?” 

Lup sighed, seemingly bracing herself. Taako waited, patiently for her to start, and rubbed reassuring circles into her palm with his thumb. 

“I had a nightmare, and woke up. Barry was still asleep, so I thought I could go for a walk… But when I got up, it was so  _ dark,  _ Ko, and I forgot where I was, I thought I was still in the staff, and I didn’t know where you were, and I panicked. I think I just ran out, but the next thing I really remember is laying here and calling you. The panic is making it all fuzzy.”

They fell into another silence again, but Lup was leaning against him, breathing, and that made things better. The anxiety in his mind was dampened, more calm. Into his shoulder, Lup whispered an incantation, and cast  _ dancing lights _ . 

The Taaco twins watched as lanterns appeared, floating delicately above them. Taako briefly thought of a cycle, decades ago, when Lup had pressed up against him like this, and cast the same spell. 

In between periods of silence, they spoke softly. They whispered phrases back and forth, finding comfort in the words, and in the other’s presence. 

“You are my heart.”

“I will never leave you- not again.” 

“I will always be there for you,  _ promise.  _ And that’s a twin promise, so it means double than the average promise.” 

Time passed, although Taako couldn’t tell you how much. He couldn’t stifle a yawn as the spell wore off, and the lights disappeared. He felt Lup sit up next to him, and when Taako looked at his sister, there was a cross look on her face.

“Shit. I woke you up, didn’t I?” The guilt was evident in her voice. “I don’t know how long I was calling, and I was probably a wreck-” 

“Shh.” Taako shook his head. “I was already awake. I kinda-” He hesitated for a moment, knowing how stupid this sounded. “I had a feeling that something was wrong. I woke up anxious, and after checking on Kravvy and the boy detective, I was going to call you next. I picked up the second you rang.” Lup snickered, but it wasn’t unkind. 

“I guess we really can read each other’s minds- or what was that shit that Grandpa used to say?” Taako let out an unexpected laugh, something that felt too loud for how early it was, but it brought a smile to Lup’s face. 

“Something like that. Hey, did I tell you that the crazy magic came back?” 

Lup’s jaw dropped, and she scrambled to sit up. She still looked like shit, with dirt smeared on her face and puffy red eyes. It had been a rough night for the both of them, and they would both need to take the day off. Taako would force her to stay in bed, if he had to, but he had a feeling that Lup would fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow. She wasn’t alright, not right now, but she would be. They all would be. 

They all would be on some level of okay, when they had each other. 

“No shit?” 

“Yeah. It was how I found you. I think I freaked Barry out.” 

The sun was peeking over the mountains, and Taako wondered how long they had been sitting there. Lup let out a breathy sigh that sounded more like a laugh than anything else. 

“We should probably head home.” Taako said, standing up. He brushed off the wood chips that were stubbornly sticking to his legs, and held out a hand for his sister. 

Ten minutes later, when they were standing in front of Lup’s front door, they didn’t even need to knock before the door ripped open and Barry was there, laying kisses all over Lup’s face, and holding her tightly. Lup laughed in surprise, but Barry must have heard the tiredness in her voice because he backed away, sheepishly. 

“Sorry,” Barry and Lup spoke in unison, before dissolving into giggles. Taako rolled his eyes before shepherding the two inside.

“Haha, yes, we are all sleep deprived and grossly in love. Let’s go the fuck to sleep.” Lup looked at Taako as he said this, and batted her eyes. 

“Can you please make us some hot chocolate, Koko?” Taako rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway, grabbing the recipe book where he left it hours ago. 

“Fine. But we are seriously doing a cuddle-pile after this. Starblaster style. I might even call to see if Krav or Ango is awake, and drag them over so they can get in on this sick cuddle pile we are going to do.” Lup laughed, and kissed Taako on the cheek. 

She was smiling now, but Taako (and Barry) could see how wobbly it was. 

As Taako made the hot chocolate, he called and left Kravitz a quick message, explaining briefly where he was, and what had happened. “Come over with D’jango, the key is under the mat,” He added. “We are probably all just gonna crash for a few hours then make a bomb-ass breakfast.” 

From the kitchen, Taako could hear Lup and Barry speaking in low tones, probably discussing what had happened. He quickly focused on the drinks that he was pouring into mugs, because that was a private conversation. Too many emotions for Taako for one night. 

Around noon that day, Kravitz let himself and Angus into the Bluejeans-Taaco household, only to find Lup, Barry, and Taako all asleep on the couch. Lup had managed to lay half on top of her brother and on her husband, and although the position looked uncomfortable, she looked content in her sleep. Taako’s head was lolled back, but his fingers were weaved into Lup’s hair, obviously mid-style. Barry’s face was pressed against Lup’s leg, and his leg was dangling off of the other side of the couch. 

Angus had instantly found a way to squirm his way into the pile, finding himself in Taako’s arms within moments. Though still asleep, Taako wrapped his arms around Angus, who fell back asleep almost instantly. Kravitz busied himself with cleaning the mugs and the pot that Taako used to make the hot chocolate with. By the time he was done, he could hear voices from the living room, speaking softly. 

From the sounds of it, Barry was awake. Kravitz got back just in time to see him try to nudge Taako awake using his foot, to which Taako awoke to Barry’s foot in his face. He shrieked- an ungodly sound- and tried to push away Barry’s the foot, nearly hit Lup in the process, but certainly woke up everyone else. 

Kravitz smiled, looking at his family. He knew that Taako would fill him in on whatever had happened last night later, but now he enjoyed watching Taako threaten Barry with bodily harm if he ‘ever even thought of putting one of those nasty denim-clad limbs near him again’. Barry gave a meek protest of how he wasn’t even wearing jeans at the moment, only to have Lup sleepily pat his leg, telling them both to kindly shut the fuck up. 

Taako finally rubbed his eyes, realizing that there were more people in the house. Angus had at some point climbed onto his chest, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Kravitz, watching, amused. 

Lup somehow found his hand again the squirming pile of limbs (Ew. Bad phrasing on Taako’s part), and squeezed gently once, twice, three times. She looked at him with a gaze so filled with love that it made his heart tug. 

She didn’t have to say anything, but Taako saw it in the way that she picked up Angus from Taako’s chest, tickling him. He saw it in the way that she pressed a quick kiss to Barry’s cheek before moving off to the kitchen, talking about how she was going to call the rest of the gang over for brunch. 

He and Lup were  _ home.  _ They had family, they had happiness, they had  _ each other _ . And hell yeah, things were going to be rocky, they had saved the fucking world after all- that shit wasn’t easy-, but that didn’t matter because the Taaco twins were going to be side by side through it all. 

When Taako and Lup were younger, their various guardians had joked about their connection.  _ ‘It’s like they can read each other’s thoughts!’  _ their grandfather had always chuckled. 

And maybe they couldn’t read each other’s thoughts, but they knew each other better than anyone else in the planar universe did. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end!!! this was my very first taz fic, and i think it ended up pretty alright!! thanks for reading!! kudos/comments mean a lot, and stay tuned on my account for more taz fics that will hopefully be posted soon (got a seven part fic that is about halfway written, so look out for that)!! <3


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